Five Marketing Tips for Memorial Day

Memorial Day is an important time of the fiscal year for many businesses because many customers have finally thawed from winter's chill, and they are ready to get out and buy. As the unofficial start of summer, Memorial Day is ripe with opportunities for enterprising companies to turn a profit. Naturally, your marketing strategy plays a major role in how successful your sales will be come Memorial Day weekend. To help you increase your chances of success, here are five marketing tips for Memorial Day.

1. Start marketing early

Many companies wait until the weekend before Memorial Day - and even the week days leading up to Memorial Day - to begin marketing their special sales. You can get a jump on the competition by beginning your campaign several weeks early. Send postcards, catalogs and brochures to your mailing list two to three weeks before Memorial Day. Distribute posters where your target audience visits announcing that something special is coming on Memorial Day. If you already publish weekly flyers, you don't have to do much: just add a special section starting a few weeks before Memorial Day that announces your special sales and creates desire. Start marketing early, and by the time your competition unleashes their campaigns your customers will already be sold on you.

2. Get free publicity

The true meaning of Memorial Day is, of course, to remember and reflect on all of those who have sacrificed everything for their country. To express your gratitude, you can undertake altruistic measures to honor their sacrifices. Set up a campaign to ensure every veteran memorial has a flag or flower on it. Host a special cookout honoring veterans. Go in with other companies to sponsor a memorial statue, plaque or wall in your hometown park. When you set out to benefit the community, the media will reward you with free press and your community will in turn benefit you.

3. Be creative in design

Most everyone will have red, white and blue marketing materials for their Memorial Day promotions, and it's likely you'll want to include the same colors in your postcards, flyers and posters. You can retain this spirit of patriotism and still set yourself apart from your competition by using these colors in unique ways. Have your logo remade in red, white and blue; or depict your company mascot (or even yourself if you're the recognized face of your company) carrying Old Glory.

4. Honor the dead

You're certainly aware that people buy from those they feel are similar to themselves, and on Memorial Day the vast majority of Americans pay some homage to those who have lost their lives in the name of securing freedom for others. When you do the same, you establish yourself as a credible company that shares values with your customers. This is simple to do: compose a few words in remembrance and gratitude and place them on every marketing material you print.

5. Print marketing materials on premium paper

It's no secret that premium printing makes your campaign claims appear more credible, and there is a logical explanation for the phenomenon: if you have the money to print premium promotions, you must be doing good business. And to do good business, your customers must be happy. The secret is that premium printing is incredibly affordable!